The happenings of opening night of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado are affecting the film at the box office. The movie has dropped its box office appeal by 60 percent. That means the gross earnings of the newest Batman tale are dragging behind its predecessor — The Dark Knight.

To be fair, however, it wasn’t a stellar weekend for any movie. Step Up Revolution and The Watch opened to lukewarm attention. Compare those two films to Batman and the latter is still performing at a great pace. However, according to Jeff Bock, Exhibitor-Relations box-office analyst, there was an expectation for the movie to perform like a superhero. Instead, it’s acting “like a mere mortal.” That means almost any other film would be satisfied with a box office gross of $64.1 million at this point. Sadly, the new Batman saga wanted to do better; therefore, making things look dim when they truly aren’t.

It is, however, true that, at this point, the second Dark Knight film is running about $25 million behind the movie that featured Heath Ledger’s unforgettable Joker. While, it’s possible that Bane just doesn’t play as well as the lead villain, its more likely people are avoiding the film because of the Aurora incident or they’re home watching the Olympics.

The Dark Knight Rises has nothing to complain about given the circumstances surrounding it. It is still smashing its competition. Perhaps producers should think about that instead of the loss of a few dollars.

I'm a 61 year-old grandmother and mother of two. I'm from a military family and my husband is ex-military as well. I have worked since I was nine, taking care of my siblings so my mother could work two or three jobs to care for us. I'm the oldest of four